At 5pm in Alison Bessey’s home, a scene of domestic contentment is playing out. Alison is preparing a home-cooked meal, her daughters Eloise, 17, and Isabelle, 12, are chatting at the kitchen table after a day at school, and soon their father Mark, 48, will return home from his job as a civil engineer.

So far, so ordinary, surely? And yet for Alison, an evening as calm and comfortable as this was unthinkable until just over a year ago, when she made the decision to prioritise family life, and particularly the needs of her two daughters, over her career.

‘Before I stopped working in August 2015, Eloise arrived home to a cold, empty house every day, after a long commute by train from her secondary school. Isabelle was in an after-school club which she hated, and I was always the last parent to collect her, rushing from my job as a communications manager for a housing association,’ says Alison, 46, from Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.

Alison Bessey with her daughters Isabelle, 12, and Eloise, 17, who she is devoting more time to having been made redundant

‘Mark works long hours and is often away for his job, so most evenings dinner would involve me throwing a meal together from whatever was in the fridge. Then, rather than spend quality time with my girls, I’d find myself clock watching, hoping they’d go to bed early so I could get out my laptop and carry on working.

‘I was so determined to be seen to be coping and “having it all”, but privately I felt very low and guilty about the fact I was so unavailable to my children at such a formative time in their lives. In a few years, I knew, Eloise would be leaving home to go to university, yet this time with her was just passing me by.’

When I was made redundant from my job last year, I decided it was a sign — that the time had finally come to devote some time to my children

Alison Bessey

Alison’s agony will be familiar to every working mother. The guilt, wretchedness and feelings of inadequacy can follow them throughout their entire careers, from the moment they hand over a tearful infant to a nanny to the resentful, surly teens and neglected homework facing them at the end of a working day, years later.

No wonder many reach the end of their tether. Yet for many women, this epiphany comes not when their children are babies, but when they are much older. Indeed, many argue that teen years are when kids really need mum at home.

‘When I was made redundant from my job last year, I decided it was a sign — that the time had finally come to devote some time to my children,’ says Alison. Despite plenty of other job opportunities, she decided that the time had come to stay at home.

‘I’d thought about quitting several times, but something always held me back, even though we could afford it financially. Admitting I didn’t want to have it all any more was hard for a modern woman of my generation, and I didn’t know if I was cut out to be a full-time mother.

‘But I knew this was my last chance to be a hands-on mum before they flew the nest. I decided to become a full-time mother for the first time in my life, and I haven’t looked back.’

Far from being unique in deciding to take ‘midlife maternity leave’, Alison is part of a growing movement of women placing the needs of their teenage children above their careers — many of whom felt no such compunction about leaving their children with nannies when they were babies, so they could return to work.

Tory peer and chief executive of a security and cleaning firm Ruby McGregor-Smith (left) announced she was quitting her £2.5 million job to spend more time with her teenage children, while Dragons' Den star and business woman Sarah Willingham has also taken a year-long career break to be with her family

This week, Tory peer and chief executive of security and cleaning staff supplier Mitie, Ruby McGregor-Smith, announced she was quitting her £2.5 million job to spend more time with her teenage children, while Dragons’ Den star and business woman Sarah Willingham has also taken a year-long career break to be with her family.

According to Cityparents, a network of more than 9,000 working parents in City jobs, later-life career breaks like Alison’s are becoming more common. But what’s fuelling this trend for mid-life maternity leave?

Chartered psychologist Denise Taylor says this is the flipside of the growing reluctance of younger mothers to take a lengthy maternity leave or career break after giving birth.

‘When women first have children, they’re more likely to be at a junior level in their profession. If they’re ambitious, they’ll be wary of stepping off the ladder for fear of jeopardising their prospects. Also, financially they may need to work as it’s less likely they will have savings,’ says Denise.

‘Fast-forward ten to 15 years, and those same women are in a very different position,’ she says.

I’m encouraged women are taking these breaks, it’s symbolic of how far we have come

Denise Taylor

‘They’re more senior and are not striving for promotion. Financially they and their partner may be better off. And their priorities have changed. I’m encouraged women are taking these breaks, it’s symbolic of how far we have come. Women used to pretend they didn’t have children for fear of it harming their careers. Now they have the confidence to put their children first.’

After having her two daughters, Alison returned to work after six and nine months respectively, and insists those early days of motherhood were the easy ones.

‘I really enjoyed my work, and was ambitious about wanting to rise to managerial level. The girls both went to private nurseries, then we used after-school clubs when they moved on to primary school,’ she says.

‘Life was busy, and I worked four-and-a-half days a week, but their needs were very straightforward. They were like little packages content to be dropped off and looked after by someone else. As long as they were fed, watered, could play, sleep and were in a safe environment, I didn’t worry about leaving them.

‘However, as they got older and Eloise entered her teenage years, I began to find it a lot more challenging. They began to need me in a new way.

‘I hated the fact Eloise was coming home to an empty house and there were a few times she got off the train and went to a shopping centre in Birmingham without telling me.

‘She wanted to be independent but was still so young, yet I wasn’t around to keep an eye on her. Isabelle was also very open about not enjoying her after-school club, which made me feel guilty.

‘As well as developing social lives and doing lots of activities which they needed to be ferried to, the teenage hormones began swirling around, and their need for emotional support grew.

Emma Bradley quit her job to spend more time with her children, including daughter Chloe

‘It was so unpredictable when Eloise would want me — one day she was slamming doors and refusing to talk, the next she wanted to confide in me about school work worries and friendship dramas.

‘The girls would say, half-jokingly, that I was a workaholic and although I had always felt strongly about being a positive role model, I realised that my role as a mother was about more than that. I could show them that you don’t have to “have it all” all of the time, you have to be flexible depending on your stage in life.

‘I began to question why I was putting myself under so much pressure, and neglecting the girl’s emotional needs. For what?’

‘Teenagers are growing into the person they are going to be in adult life. It’s a crucial time. We need to be a presence in their lives during those years.

‘A mid-life maternity leave isn’t about being a helicopter parent, meddling in their life. I actually tell parents of teens it’s about quantity not quality. Your child is unlikely to have very long, deep conversations with you, but they just need to know you’re there if they want you.

For Jules Bottazzi, 45, from Billericay in Essex, a desire to help her sons with the transition from primary to secondary school has seen her take a break from her job in marketing.

‘I remember, years ago, a senior colleague taking time off when her kids were older and thinking, “Isn’t the hard part over for her?” Now I’m happy to eat my words because I realise this is when I am needed most as a mother.

‘When Charlie, 14, and Danny, 11, were younger I worked in publishing three days a week while they went to nursery from 7.30am to 6.30pm, before they both started school.

‘In 2010 I changed careers and went into PR and marketing as a freelance contractor. I never felt I was giving 100 per cent to work or home, and I felt the pangs of guilt, but the boys were happy and well cared for.

‘However, in 2014, as Charlie was preparing to start secondary school, I instinctively felt I needed to be at home more.

‘He was moving from a small primary to a huge secondary and I knew it was going to be a big transition. I wanted to be there when he came home, especially because boys are generally not as good as girls at articulating emotions. If he was struggling, I needed to be available to him.’

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After taking a few months off, Jules went back to work as head of marketing for a medical recruitment agency, five days a week.

As 2016 approached, with younger son Danny about to sit his SATs and then also go on to secondary, Jules began to again feel that pull to be at home.

‘My husband David, 47, who works in advertising, agreed I should take a longer break, even though financially we couldn’t really afford it. But we decided it was worth tightening our belts to help Danny settle in. I finished work in March 2016 and plan to go back early next year, as we need my salary.’

Far from indulging her sons and doing everything for them, Jules insists she’s using this time to prepare them for adult life.

‘I can’t be off for ever so I don’t want them to become too reliant on me,’ she says. ‘And I don’t want my returning to work to be disruptive for them, so I’m encouraging them to be as self-sufficient as possible, including teaching them how to cook some basic meals.

‘They’re at that delicate “man-child” stage. Some days I get a hug and we have long chats about anything from ethics to a homework problem, the next I just get a grunt. But I feel reassured just being a presence for them.’

Former teacher Emma Bradley, 40, admits her breaking point was the day she snapped at her teenage daughter for asking for help with her homework

Former teacher Emma Bradley, 40, admits her breaking point was the day she snapped at her teenage daughter for asking for help with her homework. ‘I was marking a stack of books, as was my husband Lee, 42, who’s an assistant head teacher, when our daughter Chloe, then 14, asked me to look over her English assignment.

‘It wasn’t until a few hours after I had refused, because I was too busy working, that I realised I was putting other people’s children ahead of my own. I resigned soon after,’ says Emma, from Gloucestershire.

With her daughter studying for GCSEs and playing hockey at a high level, Emma made the decision to leave her teaching career.

Emma, who decided to leave her teaching career to spend more time with her children, pictured with daughter Chloe as a baby

‘I adored my job as head of sociology in a large comprehensive, but the lesson preparation and marking ate into family time so much that my relationship with Chloe was suffering.

‘There was no time for mother-daughter days out. Driving her to hockey training three times a week while juggling work and two other children — Dylan, now 13 and Erin, now six — left me really stressed. It must have been very confusing for her as I was the one encouraging her to play sport. And I was too busy with my pupils to help her get the grades she was aiming for in her exams.

‘I didn’t want to look back in ten years and realise I could have been a better mother, at a time she needed me greatly. And to regret not forging a deeper emotional bond with her as she became a young woman.’

Emma left work in July 2014 and says the whole family has benefited.

‘Chloe and I are incredibly close. Because I’m at home, there’s always a line of communication open and she will confide in me, knowing I have the time and focus to advise her.

‘She did better in her GCSEs than predicted, achieving A and B grades and I feel sure that was, in part, down to having me at home supporting her through them. As a family we are calmer, we eat better because I cook for us from scratch and we’re less worn out.

‘When I was working, life could be chaotic and argumentative.

‘We’re lucky we can live on Lee’s salary, even if it means fewer holidays and meals out. But that doesn’t feel like a sacrifice compared with the contentment I feel as a mother. For now, being mum is my job.’

For Alison Bessey, it’s the little moments which reassure her that her career sacrifice was worth it.

‘Last night at 10.45pm, Eloise called me into her bedroom to show me some new clothes she’d bought. The old me would have been too exhausted and pre-occupied with a work issue, and I probably would have just gone to bed.

‘Instead, I sat on her bed, we chatted first about clothes, then about school and her weekend plans. To an outsider, there was nothing extraordinary about it. But to me, it represented just why I am at home, to seize these precious moments with her while I can.’

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The mums on LATE LIFE maternity leave: Forget the baby years. More and more women are putting their careers on hold - to look after vulnerable teens